Lambert, Bryan win big at country music awards

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Lambert, Bryan win big at country music awards

LOS ANGELES (CNN) — Miranda Lambert was the big winner at this year’s Academy of Country Music Awards, but it was Luke Bryan who pulled off the upset of the night.

Bryan snagged the entertainer of the year award, beating out two-time winner Taylor Swift and last year’s favorite Blake Shelton for the fan-voted award.

“Thank you so much fans for doing this to me,” a clearly emotional Bryan said at the Last Vegas show. “Thank you so much for making my life what it is. What I always wanted to be was just a country singer who got to ride on a tour bus and show up on a new stage and play music every night.”

“This is the defining moment of my life, and it means the world to me,” he added. “I will never take it for granted.”

Byran’s star has been on the up and up in recent months.

At the American Country Awards in December, the “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” singer picked up nine awards, including artist of the year, album of the year for “Tailgates and Tanlines” and single of the year for “I Don’t Want This Night To End.”

Lambert had a pretty great night as well Sunday.

“Over You,” a ballad she co-wrote with her husband Blake Shelton, netted Lambert three awards: record of the year, single record of the year (which goes to the performer) and song of the year (which goes to the composer).

The song is about the death of Shelton’s brother in a car wreck.

Lambert also won her fourth straight female vocalist of the year.

In all, she swept the show with four awards — the most of the night.

“As a songwriter, having your songs and your lyrics be recognized by your peers is pretty much as good as it gets,” Lambert said.